In S04E11, Dar Adal is seen in the car of Haissam Haqqani in Islamabad.

Later in S04E12 (the last one) we learn that there was a deal regarding the videos of Saul during his kidnap by Talibans: Haissam Haqqani would be removed from the terrorist's list in exchange for that video. Apparently, this way Saul can go back to his position in CIA without problem.

How can CIA accept such a deal after Haqqani's access to the USA Embassy in Pakistan? Am I missing something on that deal? Is Saul that important to cause such deal?

1 Answer
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The whole deal was off the records (e.g., Saul tries to find out something from his guy in the office (a confidant of the president?), or as Dar Adal tells to Saul). The main point of the deal was that there is only one copy and this copy belongs to Saul/Dar Adal (Also, do not forget that Haqqani promised not to assault any US facilies (anymore ;)).

That said, the CIA (or anyone else) does not know about the deal and will never know. (To answer your question, the deal was accepted since they did not know about it. It was Dar Adal on his own who did this within letting anyone know (expect for Saul and Carrie in the end)).

In my opinion, the motivation for such a deal twofolded:

People (both, the polical leaders as well as high ranked people within the CIA like Dar Adal) want to get rid of Lockhart as head of the CIA (He is being blamed for the assault on the embassy).

They also want to have someone else in charge and to make sure that he/she stays there for a longer time and have no outstanding debts. Do not forget that the CIA seems to be weak after the 12/12 attack at the end of season 2 and the incident in the embassy.

The video would be such an outstanding debt and could lead to problems in the future if Saul becomes CIA director again.

This is extremely interesting! I have some questions, though: how could Dar Adal create this plan only in few days (after the assault to the embassy)? How can he alone remove Hassani from the list of terrorists if CIA does not know about the deal? Wouldn't the CIA try to get Hassani nevertheless in the future?
– fedorquiJan 1 '15 at 19:39

@fedorqui: Interesting questions, but I'm afraid they are not (yet!) really answered in the show. I can only guess: The plan to bring Saul back as CIA director could have been made when they planed the prisoner exchange. He could also have assets in the region who helped him to stay off the records (We know hardly anything about his background). Maybe there will be more details about it in the next season. But it is very interesting how the removing from the CIA list is working (since a few people in the CIA should work on him and have access to the CIA terror list).
– Markus KleinJan 1 '15 at 20:03

So I guess we will have to wait some months to understand all the underlying deals. I cannot wait for that!! In the meanwhile, thanks a lot for the explanations.
– fedorquiJan 1 '15 at 21:47

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@fedorqui I hope so, either. But as far as the things went last times, I'm afraid we will have a (small) time jump and the show will continue when Saul is CIA director again. We will see.
– Markus KleinJan 2 '15 at 7:55